Several homes damaged near Jefferson; snow pummels Hills

Oct. 4, 2013

Loading Photo Galleries ...

Written by

Staff and wire reports

Tornado damage in Wynstone, a gated community in Jefferson near McCook Lake. / Bud Reynolds

More

ADVERTISEMENT

A freak October weather system produced tornadoes in southeast South Dakota and Iowa and dumped more than 30 inches of snow on parts of the Black Hills on Friday.

Parts of southeast South Dakota and western Iowa suffered damage after a tornado system rolled through the area Friday night, but there were no reports of fatalities.

Fifteen people were injured as the tornado touchdown in Wayne, Neb. The same system continued on to Wynstone and Jefferson in southeast South Dakota, where it damaged 2-3 houses in the rural part of the county, according to Union County sheriff Dan Limoges.

Christi Reynolds, who lives in Wynstone, a gated community in Jefferson near McCook Lake, said about 20 homes were damaged in the storm, including her home.

The damage ranged from a garages being destroyed to parts of roofs being blown off.

She said her home had a window broken out and some shingles and siding damage.

"Our neighbors have lost so much more - entire garages, back of houses. So sad," she said.

Tornadoes also hit the Sioux City area in Iowa, where it appeared to have caused heavy damage.

"It's a mess," said Lt. Tony Wingert of the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office. "We have more than 30 rural homes destroyed. Farms destroyed. We don't have a number for the number of cars destroyed. Most of the damage appears to be out of the rural areas."

Wingert said no injuries have been reported yet.

"They are organizing deputies, county road workers and firefighters to start a grid search to continue damage assessment," he said.

About 2,700 homes and business in the Sioux City area were without power Friday night. More than 500 of them were around Sloan, near where a different tornado that was a mile-wide touched down.

Officials said the mile-wide tornado touched traveled about 1 mile south of Cherokee. It cut a 2- to 3-mile path through farmland but didn’t hit any population centers.

In Plymouth County, there were reports of moderate to severe damage to 10 homes. There were no reports of injuries.

(Page 2 of 4)

The National Weather Serivce says homes were damaged near the northwest Iowa towns of Pierson and Quimby. In all, the system produced six tornadoes, according to preliminary information.

In Union County, Limoges said there were no injuries.

Ellen Kennedy, a senior at the University of South Dakota, said she was driving to Vermillion from Sioux City when they stopped under a bridge on Interstate 29 to avoid hail damage.

"Then all of a sudden people got out of their cars and told us we needed to get out of there," she said. "As we left, we could see the funnel cloud behind us."

They drove to the nearest town, Jefferson, and hunkered down in a gas station for 20 minutes.

"The building was shaking and there was lots of loud noises, lots of hail," she said. "You could definitely hear extremely strong winds going outside."

She said damage to buildings appeared to be minimal, but that cars suffered hail damage and some trees were uprooted.

Interstate 29 south of Jefferson was closed after heavy winds knocked over a semi.

In Wayne, Gov. Dave Heineman issued an emergency declaration for the area surrounding after the tornado went through.

A Nebraska Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman said Friday that state officials were traveling to the town to help with the response effort. A hazardous material team was on its way to Wayne to evaluate a gas leak at a supply company.

Black Hills snow

Snow in early October is bad enough. But when thundersnow came to western South Dakota Friday morning, it was a sign that winter was coming in force more than two months ahead of schedule.

The slow moving blizzard brought nearly three feet of snow in parts of Black Hills on Friday, along with 50 mph winds, power outages, closed roads, canceled events and car crashes.

As of late Friday afternoon, emergency officials said there appeared to be no serious injuries or deaths associated with the storm.

“The western part of the state ... has been significantly impacted so far by the storm, both on the Interstate and the whole entire area,” said Major Dana Svendsen of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. “The best advice that we can give at this time is that if you absolutely don’t have to travel, don’t travel.”

(Page 3 of 4)

Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom echoed that warning.

“If (drivers) get on the roads and get stuck, it could a be a while — maybe morning — before people get to them,” Thom said.

The snow remained contained to the western half of the state. East of Pierre, most of South Dakota got rain instead. But Svendsen said the dividing line between rain and snow was very thin.

“You could be going along from the east side of the state, driving in rain, and in a couple of miles it could turn to heavy snow with reduced visibility,” he said.

The Sioux Falls area was expected to receive rain and strong winds gusting up to 25 mph, according to a National Weather Service forecast.

The sheer volume of snow falling on the Black Hills set records for this early in the season. But for meteorologists, the lightning that accompanied the blizzard marked it as a dangerous event.

“It’s always bad when you’re getting reports of thunder while it’s snowing,” said Aaron Dorn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen.

Thundersnow, as it’s called, only occurs with particularly severe winter storms.Rapid City was expected to receive more than a foot of snow by the time the storm moved past on Saturday. Higher elevations in the Black Hills could get three feet or more. Large portions of Wyoming and western South Dakota plains also received significant snow fall.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol reported a number of cars sliding into ditches along Interstate 90, which was closed from Wall to the Wyoming border due to the storm. In Rapid City alone, police responded to at least 20 accidents and 18 motorist assist calls during Friday’s morning shift.

The wind and snow also knocked out power for thousands of customers across western South Dakota. While most had electricity restored within a few hours, Black Hills Power spokesman Mutch Usera said a few customers might be in the dark until this morning.

With leaves not yet fallen, the weight of the snowfall caused more branches and entire trees to fall to the ground.

(Page 4 of 4)

“Trees with leaves cause snow and high winds to break branches and fall,” said Usera, whose Black Hills Power crews were working since 3 a.m. Friday responding to downed power lines.

Travelers are urged to visit safetravelusa.com/SD or to call 511 to check road conditions in other parts of South Dakota. The early-fall storm is impacting visibility and travel in other areas of western South Dakota, and officials caution travelers to watch the weather and be prepared to change travel plans.

Sioux Falls forecast from the NWS

This Afternoon: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 63. East northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 10pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. East northeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: Rain likely, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 48. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday Night: Rain likely, mainly before 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 35. Northwest wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Sunday: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.